The Regulars: Toy Boat Dessert Cafe serves ice cream, conversation

Toy Boat Dessert Café in the Inner Richmond is a welcoming place, open to all people, and that’s just the way co-owner Jesse Fink intended it to be. “It’s a place for little kids, old people, everyone in between,” says Fink, “No one’s going to walk by Toy Boat and feel alienated. No one’s going to say I’m not welcome to this place.” The small café has been welcoming the young and young at heart for 35 years now.

Media: Guy Wathen

Toy Boat Dessert Café in the Inner Richmond is a welcoming place, open to all people, and that’s just the way co-owner Jesse Fink intended it to be.

“It’s a place for little kids, old people, everyone in between,” says Fink. “No one’s going to walk by Toy Boat and feel alienated. No one’s going to say I’m not welcome to this place.” The small café has been welcoming the young and young at heart for 35 years now.

After moving here from Brooklyn in 1979, Fink met his future wife Roberta while the two worked at Double Rainbow Gourmet Ice Creams, which was founded by Fink’s brother Steven and his partner Michael, childhood friends from Brooklyn. Fink and Roberta decided to open a dessert café that would also feature their shared attraction to old toys. In July 1982 Toy Boat first opened its doors on Clement Street in the Inner Richmond.

In addition to ice cream the café is known for its décor. Toys from all eras line the walls and shelves around the small shop. The collection has grown over the years and now occupies most of the wall space.

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“People walk in whether they’re 15 years old or 50 years old, they see something that they identify with from their childhood,” says Fink.

In a typical day Fink seems to spend as much time in conversation with customers as he does behind the counter. After 35 years, he knows many of them.

“A lot of customers have been coming for 20 or 30 or sometimes 35 years who are very intimate with me and sharing their lives with me,” says Fink.

Photo: Guy Wathen, The Chronicle

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Jesse Fink, left, co-owner of Toy Boat Dessert Cafe, chats with customers in his cafe in the Inner Richmond on Thursday, June 29, 2017. Fink and his wife, Roberta, have run the cafe for 35 years.

Jesse Fink, left, co-owner of Toy Boat Dessert Cafe, chats with customers in his cafe in the Inner Richmond on Thursday, June 29, 2017. Fink and his wife, Roberta, have run the cafe for 35 years.

Photo: Guy Wathen, The Chronicle

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Toys decorate the walls of Toy Boat Dessert Cafe in the Inner Richmond on Thursday, June 29, 2017. Almost every toy on display is for sale. Jesse Fink and his wife, Roberta, have run the cafe for 35 years.

Toys decorate the walls of Toy Boat Dessert Cafe in the Inner Richmond on Thursday, June 29, 2017. Almost every toy on display is for sale. Jesse Fink and his wife, Roberta, have run the cafe for 35 years.

Photo: Guy Wathen, The Chronicle

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Thirty-five years worth of memories line the walls of the bathroom Toy Boat Dessert Cafe in the Inner Richmond on Thursday, July 6, 2017. Jesse Fink and his wife, Roberta, have run the cafe for 35 years.

Thirty-five years worth of memories line the walls of the bathroom Toy Boat Dessert Cafe in the Inner Richmond on Thursday, July 6, 2017. Jesse Fink and his wife, Roberta, have run the cafe for 35 years.

Photo: Guy Wathen, The Chronicle

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Jesse Fink, co-owner of Toy Boat Dessert Cafe, attends to customers in his cafe in the Inner Richmond on Thursday, June 29, 2017. Fink and his wife, Roberta, have run the cafe for 35 years.

Jesse Fink, co-owner of Toy Boat Dessert Cafe, attends to customers in his cafe in the Inner Richmond on Thursday, June 29, 2017. Fink and his wife, Roberta, have run the cafe for 35 years.

Photo: Guy Wathen, The Chronicle

The Regulars: Toy Boat Dessert Cafe serves ice cream, conversation

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He still enjoys the work, even after 35 years, and hopes to continue for as long as he can.

“I would say my entire life has been filled with surprises, and there’s still surprises ahead,” says Fink.

Watch an accompanying video at www.sfchronicle.com/theregulars/. The Regulars is a weekly photo and video column that offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people in the Bay Area, caught in routine activities of modern urban life. If you know a regular, email kduncan@sfchronicle.com.